State Voting Rights Act

In the United States, a State Voting Rights Act (SVRA) is a state-level provision (either state constitutional amendment or state statute) that addresses racial discrimination in voting and provides protections beyond those offered by the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965.^[2] SVRAs seek to mitigate the impact of court decisions that have weakened the federal VRA, such as the 2013 decision in Shelby County v. Holder. By implementing preclearance measures and combating racial vote dilution, SVRAs create stronger protections for minority voters at the state level.

The first SVRA was enacted in 2002 in California.^[3] Nearly two decades later, the Washington Voting Rights Act was passed,^[4] followed by the Oregon Voting Rights Act a year later.^[5] In 2021, Virginia became the first southern state to do more than federal law requires to prevent racial discrimination in voting.^[6] In 2022, New York enacted what was then the most comprehensive SVRA,^[7] which served as a template for a similar law enacted in Connecticut in 2023.^[8] A pared down version of the NYVRA was passed in Minnesota in 2024.^[9]